Tips For Those Joining The Brewer DNA Project

The Brewer DNA Project is a Y-Chromosome DNA project and those joining the project will get the most out of their participation by considering a few suggestions that are developed from my experience of having worked with numerous participants in the project over the past seven or eight years. I'll try and relate them here, and I'll try and be brief and to the point.

There is one basic concept that needs to be understood:

Genetic genealogy and traditional* genealogy go hand in hand. Genetic genealogy is an accompaniment to traditional genealogy. It is one more research method. And without traditional genealogy, genetic genealogy (for the purpose of finding a relatively recent ancestor**) is of limited value. 

There are two primary reasons for joining the project: 

One is that you've reached a brick wall with your traditional genealogical research, you can't connect to that original colonial period ancestor, and you want to at least narrow down the field as to where to focus continued research. You want to learn which larger Brewer, Brower, Brouwer family is in your ancestry.

Reason two would be that you already have your complete ancestry back to the first colonial period ancestor, and you realize that by adding your Y-DNA test results as a descendant, you'll be helping your cousins who are stuck, break through their brick walls. It's a opportunity for you to share what you know and to help out others.

 

Now that you've decided to join, here are four things that will lead to a better experience:

1. Work on your ancestry. Prior to joining, do the basic traditional genealogical work needed to prove as conclusively as possible, your Brewer line, back to the earliest known ancestor (EKA) you can identify. Your proof should rely on actual records like birth, marriage, death and burial records, probate and estate records, land records, family records (Bible records) that have a knowable provenance or authenticity, etc. There are probably hundreds of thousands of genealogy "trees" online now. I've put my own share there myself. Don't rely on them (mine included). They do not constitute proof. Use them, especially the ones that have cited sources (like most of mine) as guides or clues as to where to look to find the true proof that you need. Do your own work, it's more satisfying than simply copying someone's tree.
2. Share your ancestry. Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) provides each customer with a family tree feature as part of your account. Be certain to enter or upload (using a GEDCOM) at the very least, your direct Brewer line back to your EKA based on the traditional genealogical work you've already done. This will allow you to easily share your tree with your matches and other members of the Project. Without a lineage to pair it with, your test data is less useful.
3. Educate yourself about genetic genealogy. Genetic genealogy is still new, and most of us have no prior experience with it. Even before you sign up and order your test kit, start learning all you can about what genetic genealogy is, how it might help you, what types of tests are there and do they relate to the question you're trying to answer, etc. Learn the terminology and learn to understand just what your test results are telling you. There are a lot of sources out there and here is a page on this website with many links. In addition see the August 4, 2017 post. I would also recommend two books, both by Blaine Bettinger: The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy and  Genetic Genealogy in Practice, both published in late 2016***. Start with the former. Some of the information there is repeated in the latter, but the additional material in the latter make it worth while for those who are enthusiastic about mastering this. This is work. But you'll be better able to converse with those who you match and the administrators of the project. And you'll be able to decide for yourself whether or not, and which type of additional testing may benefit you. "Spend an hour a day on any subject and in a year you'll be an expert." I heard someone say that once. I think it works.
4. Participate. Make certain that your privacy settings allow your matches, and the administrators of the Project, the ability to see them and contact you. Initiate contact with matches yourself, and be considerate by responding to those who contact you. The Brewer DNA Project site has what is (poorly) called an Activity Feed (only logged in members can access this). It is essentially a forum for correspondence within the group. To date it has primarily been used by the administrators to communicate info to the members, but it has also been used by members to ask questions, and share their ancestry info. Use it to do just that. If you have a question, put it out there. Hopefully an answer will come along. If you have something that you think may help others, please share it. And here I will offer the use this blog, Brouwer Genealogy, for the same. Utilize the Comments option under each post if you have a question or some info that may answer problems presented in the post, or to add more to the post. If you would like to reach a larger audience than you would with the Activity Feed at the Brewer DNA Project, then write up a post for this blog and I'll place it online for you with your name and a method for contacting you. I'll be willing to help by posting your questions, queries, genealogy work that you've done on a particular family or line, that may help others, etc. (send it to me either in the body of an e-mail or an attached Word doc., and I'll copy and format it so it fits on the site). Even better, if you have the ambition, start your own genealogy site and post your research and discoveries online in a format that you control. But, most importantly, get it out there, share it.

 Finally, remember that there is never any guarantee that genetic genealogy will quickly answer your questions or find with certainty your missing ancestor. However, you will have one more set of information to work with, and you may well be introduced to others working on the same problem. And in the end, what you get out of it generally is proportional to what you put into it. Good luck.

*By "traditional" genealogy, I'm referring to genealogy done by the usual methods of tracking down vital records, probate records, etc. to compile and prove a lineage.
**By relatively recent ancestor, I mean one who lived within the past 500 years or so. Most of those who join are trying to identify that elusive colonial period ancestor (1620-1783) or post colonial ancestor who lived prior to 1850 when census and other records start to become more numerous.
***The links lead to pages at Amazon.com. I am not compensated in any way by a purchase through this site, it's simply a convenient link for showing you these books.

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